Separate-loading ammunition comprising a projectile and an independent charge is typically shot by large-bore cannons of the type used as the main gun of a tank. It is possible for such systems to dispose of a selection of charges for different ranges, or for more or fewer individual charge packs to be employed to achieve a similar variable effect.
Thus in the gun turret behind the breech of the barrel, which is invariably pivotal about a horizontal elevation axis perpendicular to its bore axis, it is necessary to provide a magazine for the projectiles and a magazine for the charges, one on each side of the turret. As described in German patent document No. 2,027,586 filed by A. Gauci based on a French priority of 4 June 1985, two separate grabs are provided, one for the charges and one for the projectiles. These grabs in turn have separate lateral conveyors and a central loading device is furthermore provided behind the breech and between the grabs to sequentially push the projectile from its grab and then the charge from its grab into the breech. Thus this device takes up quite a bit of valuable space, making the turret fairly large and high, and also is quite slow due to the sequential two-part operation of separately chambering the projectile and charge. The small saving in depth achieved by using separate-loading ammunition is therefore lost to the other complex and bulky loading equipment. Furthermore such an arrangement is impossible to load manually, and is very difficult to service because there is so much equipment cluttering the area behind the breech.
A similar such device with individual loaders for the charge and projectile is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,209. Although offering certain advantages, this arrangement is still quite bulky, also making it unsuitable for howitzer use in high-angle shooting, as the barrel must be swung down for reloading.